Ocular Manifestation in Psoriasis

Abstract

Purpose: Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune and systemic disease characterized by red and scaly plaques, affecting about 1% of the global population. Ocular involvement is becoming increasingly recognized as a complication of the disease. This study aims to evaluate ocular manifestations’ prevalence in psoriasis patients.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of patients attending the outpatient department of dermatology in a multidisciplinary tertiary care hospital in South India. A total of 78 patients were enrolled in this study. Ocular symptoms, Schirmer’s test, tear breakup time, and intraocular pressure were assessed. The study used the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score to quantify the severity of lesions based on the area involved and the appearance of the plaque.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.5 ± 12.87 years. The mean duration of psoriasis was 4.8 ± 4.6 years. Ocular manifestations were more common in patients with PASI score >10 when compared to patients with PASI score ≤10. Among the patients with PASI score >10, 55 (70%) had ophthalmic manifestations such as cataracts, dryness, blepharitis, and tear breakup time. There was a statistically significant association between the PASI score and the prevalence of dry eye and blepharitis (p-value is 0.007 by Fischer exact test). There was no statistical significance in relation to the duration of disease and ophthalmic manifestations in our study population.
Conclusions: Symptoms of dry eye are a significant part of the clinical manifestations of the disease. Moreover, uveitis is a potentially serious complication in patients presenting with psoriatic arthritis.